The Jaguars will be hosting the Bengals on Monday night and that will break a long spell without Monday Night Football for Jacksonville.
It was 2011 when the Jags last played on a Monday night and their return to that spot is a reflection on how far they came in 2022. A five-game winning streak to close the regular season made them the AFC South champs and they beat the Chargers in the playoffs to raise their profile for the 2023 campaign.
That profile could rise even higher with another strong finish. The Jags are one of four three-loss teams in the AFC and that has them in play for the top seed in the conference at the start of December. It’s something that quarterback Trevor Lawrence wants the team to keep in mind as they head into the matchup with Cincinnati.
“If you want to talk about the No. 1 seed, we’ve put ourselves in a situation where that’s attainable,” Lawrence said, via the team’s website. “We’re right there in the mix. We’re not oblivious to that fact. We’re taking it one game at a time and you have to win one game at a time to get there. But we understand that that’s a real, that’s something that’s reachable for us and that we can do. It’s still early in the year. We’re getting towards the back half, but you can’t get too far ahead of yourself. We understand what we can accomplish and what we can do. Being in the moment is really big.”
It’s a bit early to start gaming out the scenarios the Jaguars need to end up with the No. 1 seed, but winning games is going to do a lot of the heavy lifting and Monday night provides a chance to keep doing that.
